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Remembering Humanist Photographer Mary Ellen Mark (1940-2015)

From Seattle street teens and Indian prostitutes to Hollywood actors and directors, her documentary photos captured outsider and starlet alike.

By

Richard B. Woodward

May 28, 2015 7:00 p.m. ET

With her braided hair, jangling silver bracelets, flowing clothes, a beaded necklace or two, and maybe a pair of granny glasses, the photographer Mary Ellen Mark, who died on Monday at the age of 75, was an unforgettable sight at art openings. Long after the ’60s ended, she continued to dress like a blinged-out hippie princess.

Beholding her distinct aura in a crowd, you could wonder if her regal bearing wasn’t ill-suited to documentary, a style that demands blending in and a cloak of invisibility. But it may be that her...